Borderlands 2: TK Baha's Bloody Harvest Review

Gearbox keep coming up with fresh ideas, but this is nowhere near its best.

Returning to Pandora for Borderlands 2's latest, Halloween-themed DLC sounds like a fantastic idea in principle, but it turns out to be a short visit marred by lots of frustration and very little reward. It’s commendable that Gearbox keep coming up with ideas to extend the life of the game, but taking less than two hours to rinse every ounce of gameplay means that hardened fans will find little to enjoy, and even mid-level players won’t get more than a single level up, while the main reward of a new head is purely cosmetic.

TK Baha makes a return from the first game, and in true Borderlands style, he’s now Zombified and wants you to go and stop the trouble-making Pumpkin Kingpin by deseeding him. Before you get there, you’ll be set upon by numerous undead themed foes which are variations upon enemies you’ve seen before, including the sub-boss.

Halfway through, however, aggravation sets in thanks to the constantly spawning skeletons attacking you from every angle. They scale to your level, but also have new loot, so you'll soon be able to eat one of four varieties of candy. These temporarily buff you in different ways such as health, damage and speed, and are vital for the trickier sections.

It all culminates in an odd boss fight that features the Kingpin’s ability to repeatedly re-heal himself while you try and whittle his health down. At one point TK jokes that the fetch quests leading to the final fight must be frustrating. That’s sadly a joke too close to the truth, especially when the Kingpin has an endless supply of minions.

If you want a short return to Pandora and don’t mind a bit of irritation while you’re there, this is the DLC for you. Everyone else should be wary that this is cheap in more ways than one.